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Friday, May 25, 2012

Remember how I've been talking about how the D&D Next Playtest materials drove me to the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG? Well, I picked up the two current releases that are up at RPGNow and printed them out. For me, that is nearly unheard of. I don't print out my PDF gaming material. Well, with one exception, stuff I plan on using in game, directly. When I was preparing for my ACKS campaign I killed a small sapling printing out setting materials and other stuff. A few more branches suffered today.

SotSS is a Level 0 adventure for DCC, which means it is written to act as a "Character Funnel". 20 peasants go in, hopeful a handful will survive. So yes, it is an extremely lethal adventure. It is a very atmospheric adventure. Lastly, By The Gods, I expect it will be a blast to play and GM!

To survive, players will need their wits and lots of luck. Without acting as a spoiler, the player characters will be up against the forces of chaos itself. Should they survive, they will be adventurers, leveled characters, the elite. Should they fail they "will suffer a fate more fearsome than death, their sprits fueling the infernal might of the reborn chaos lord." So yes, they better succeed. Well, at least some of them ;)

The artwork is awesome and there is actually a page of player handouts, which i always happen to love, as it really brings the players further into the game. That and it's just great pieces of art.

Talking about art - the maps are beautiful. Goodman should sell prints of them (with the room / laceration markings removed). Really. I'm not joking. There is more to the included maps then just the maps themselves, and the embellishing artwork is amazing. It's a shame players won't get to see them, just those of us running it.

Keeping with the DCC RPG default for adventures, there is pretty much no set up. The villagers start at the adventure location and the only initial decision is which way they plan on entering. I'd complain about this if it were another RPG system, but as this is DCC, it works fine and is actually expected. Pretty much a "Cut the crap and lets start killing stuff!" Very much the opposite of my sandbox styled ACKS campaign. Both approaches have their validity.

Really should be a blast to run. Looking forward to doing so via UA-LC in a few weeks. I'll let you all know when I'm recruiting the needed number of peasants for the funnel ;)

From the blurb:

Since time immemorial you and your people have toiled in the shadow of the cyclopean ruins. Of mysterious origins and the source of many a superstition, they have always been considered a secret best left unknown by the folk of your hamlet.

But now something stirs beneath the crumbling blocks. Beastmen howl in the night and your fellow villagers are snatched from their beds. With no heroes to defend you, who will rise to stand against the encircling darkness? The secrets of Chaos are yours to unearth, but at what cost to sanity or soul?

An introductory adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, Sailors on the Starless Sea pits a mob of 0-level adventurers against the legacy of the Chaos Lords and their corrupted hordes. Delving beneath the crumbling ruins, the characters discover ancient crypts, a starless sea, and an ancient ziggurat, where death and treasure await in equal measure!

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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